


Rusty Red

by carsinoska



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8942500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carsinoska/pseuds/carsinoska
Summary: Just what was that red mark on Paradox's face anyways?For week 3 of the YGOTP challenge (prompt: into the dark).





	

**Author's Note:**

> ...I took a very liberal interpretation of the prompt.
> 
> Title is from "Rusty Red" by Shoujo Byou.

Z-one was watering the plants in the greenhouse when the ground and the walls started to shake. He heard a faint yell in the distance. Alarmed, he rushed into the main hallway. People were gathering in the laboratory wing’s hallway, whispering to each other. Z-one pushed through them, trying to find out what happened.

A slight burnt scent drifted out of the second lab. The smoke detector wasn’t going off though, so Z-one hoped that whatever happened was just a minor accident.

“Is anyone in there?! Are you alright?” he asked, peering through the doorway cautiously.

“Oh. Z-one,” a man said. Z-one took a closer look into the room and saw Paradox. The lab was mostly untouched, he noted with surprise, except for some sparks coming off of a hologram projector. He expected more damage from something that could cause the Ark Cradle to shake. Paradox was standing near the computers, looking at Z-one somewhat blankly. He had dark bags under his eyes, the result of staring at a screen for too long. “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry about that. Just a little error.”

He sighed in relief. It was good that no one was hurt. Replacing the projector would be annoying, but certainly not impossible. Even though Paradox said it was just a small error, however, Z-one still needed to know what went wrong. “What happened?”

“My… my own oversight,” he said, not quite answering the question.

“You were only doing some experiments with Solid Vision, no? What could have gone wrong to cause the projector to short circuit?”

Paradox hesitated. “You’re right; it wasn’t anything to do with the experiment itself. It was my own fault. I thought I had it under control, but for some reason…” he said, mumbling to himself.

“Had what under control?” Z-one asked, not meaning to sound rude. He just wanted to know so he could keep everyone safe.

The other man flinched, as though he wasn’t aware he was speaking out loud earlier. Paradox averted his eyes, but Z-one kept looking at him, expecting an answer. “How do I put this…? You remember when we first met, yes?”

He nodded. Of course he remembered. It was hard to forget. He and Antinomy were searching an abandoned building in search of materials, but instead, he found a person, Paradox. Before he could even say a word, Paradox summoned one of his monsters, a large dragon. Z-one expected such confrontational behaviour from a lone survivor, but he hadn’t expected that the monster would be much more tangible than Solid Vision ought to be. Thankfully though, he was able to diffuse the situation and talk to Paradox without suffering any substantial damage.

Ever since that day, Z-one always wondered what kind of trick Paradox pulled, but never asked any questions. The other didn’t even like to duel, which he found rather odd. Even _he_ liked to duel in his fleeting spare time. Sometimes, he thought he heard Paradox talking to someone when the other was alone in his room, but Z-one still didn’t ask any questions. If it didn’t affect their research, then there was no reason to worry.

“The ability to materialize Duel Monsters… Out of everyone here, I’ve only shown this power to you. I suppose you could call me a psychic duelist.”

He’d heard that term before, when he was reading about Fudo Yusei. One of his teammates had that power… Nowadays, he was certain psychic duelists existed, but they were rare and never drew attention to themselves. Most of the prejudice against them had dissipated, a result of Yusei’s friend painting them in a positive light, but there was something the public found frightening in such a power. 

“I tried to compare the prototype in the hologram with my own monster, but then the ground started shaking and the equipment stopped working. This usually doesn’t happen, so I don’t know what went wrong… I’m sorry, Z-one.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re not hurt. And don’t worry about the projector either. I’m sure Antinomy will be able to fix it in no time.” 

Paradox smiled tiredly. “Thanks,” he said.

“But you really don’t know why this would happen? It might cause harm to others in the future if this happens again, so I must know.” 

“No, I have no idea.”

“I see… In that case, please try not to use your powers, at least until we figure out what happened.”

Paradox nodded reluctantly. The restriction would surely slow his progress on the research, but Z-one was fine with that. There was no need to finish this particular project so soon.

 

Unable to make significant progress in the Solid Vision research, Paradox opted to help Z-one with research on the reversed Moment. For the most part, the change in direction of the reactor didn’t affect the way appliances drew energy from it, but for some of the higher input devices, the reversal could cause problems. They were thinking about making the robot copies run on Moment, so they had to research the reversed Moment extensively. With Paradox’s help, Z-one was able to analyze the data much faster, but soon all of the numbers started blurring together and he decided that they should take a break.

“By the way, I’ve been wondering. What is that red mark on your face, Paradox?” Z-one asked. “A tattoo?”

Paradox covered the mark with his hand out of self-consciousness. “Ah, I guess you can call it that.”

“I don’t suppose you could tell me the story behind it?”

“The story… T-there’s not much of a story to it,” Paradox said.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

Paradox didn’t say anything, and for a moment, Z-one feared that the other man was angry at him. But then he said, “If it’s you though… I guess I could tell you.”

Z-one smiled. “If you don’t feel comfortable telling me, then there’s no pressure.”

“No, I think I want to tell you. After all, I trust you,” he said fondly. Paradox cleared his throat. “It must have been back in high school, when I got this. Some kids remembered me from elementary, from when I didn’t bother hiding this power. They didn’t like me, even though I never did anything to them. Thought I was some kind of monster. So one day, they…” He paused, voice faltering.

Z-one’s eyes widened, concerned for his friend. If this story was heading to where he thought it was… He tried to offer some support by lightly touching the other’s shoulder. Paradox leaned into the touch, smiling with his eyes.

“They had a pocket knife, and… I’m sure you can figure out the rest. Said it looked like a criminal marker, even though barely anyone has one nowadays…” Paradox chuckled mirthlessly. “But sometimes I wonder if they were right.”

He tightened his grip around Paradox’s shoulder momentarily, frowning. “That’s definitely not true. Please don’t say something like that. You’re such a big help to our cause. Without you, we wouldn’t have come so far in the research. But not only that, it’s not only because of your work. Paradox, you’re one of my few friends, one of the few people I can trust so much. Someone like you could never be a monster.”

Paradox didn’t say anything. He looked so tired, with dark eyes and hollow cheeks. His long hair that usually shone so brightly hung limply. Was he taking care of himself properly? Z-one also had the habit of getting so absorbed in work that he forgot the outside world, so he was hardly one to talk, but he wanted to help Paradox to the best of his ability. Stress and anxiety must have been building up inside of him, with nowhere to put them. Belatedly, Z-one realized that must have been a trigger to his previous incident. He’d have to make sure Paradox didn’t neglect himself.

When he looked at Paradox again, his cheeks seemed wet. Without thinking, Z-one pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry for making you say such a story. But please remember that you’re a very important person to me. Someone very dear that could never be replaced,” he said. “Please believe in me and please believe in yourself.”

“Ha ha, thank you Z-one,” Paradox said in a small voice. “What would I do without you?”

“Indeed, what would you do without me?” Z-one repeated in a teasing tone. “Now let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, wiping the tears from Paradox’s face.


End file.
